


A Deal with the Devil

by zubeneschamali



Series: Little Lord Ackles [11]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Jensen To The Rescue, M/M, pirate!jared, virgin!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 06:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19969639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zubeneschamali/pseuds/zubeneschamali
Summary: Part eleven of the Little Lord Ackles 'verse. Jensen knows it's up to him to defeat Pellegrino and save Jared…but he hadn't anticipated Jared being wounded before their fight could even begin.





	A Deal with the Devil

Jensen was furious and scared and nervous and a whole host of other things that he had no business being right now. All he had to do was stall until his father's ships could get close enough for his men to board, but the sword in his hand was too light and unfamiliar, and the slick line of red down its length kept reminding him of how desperately Jared was depending on him. 

Stalling had been the plan, at least, before Huffman had slashed her sword across Jared's arm so that he was now dripping onto the deck. She was still holding a small knife far too near Jared's throat for comfort, especially with the ship bobbing up and down the way it was. They weren't too far offshore, but there was enough of a current that the ship was tugging at its anchor. At least the moonlight overhead was bright and clear, almost as good as a cloudy day.

The flicker of movement out of the corner of Jensen's eye reminded him that if he didn't start paying closer attention, Jared wasn't going to be the only one bleeding. 

He parried another one of Pellegrino's downward slashes easily, though he lurched to the side as the ship rode over a wave. It was clear that the other man was testing him, trying to see if Jensen was as good as he claimed. Pellegrino was in a loose, easy crouch, heavy sword held up easily in front of him. Jensen wasn't exactly dressed for swordfighting, but he'd shed his formal coat before leaving home, and his shirt and trousers were form-fitting enough not to hamper him. He hadn't had time to change out of his fine shirt, and he would be surprised if he escaped this encounter without a hole that needed to be stitched.

He hoped the only holes were in his shirt.

Pellegrino's passes slowly grew more solid, more serious, and when he switched the sword to his left hand and came straight at Jensen, it was clear that the battle was on. Jensen ducked away, parrying the surprise move with a metallic clash. He could hear murmurs and taunts from the other pirates all around him in response. They hadn't cleared a very large space on the central deck, and he was wary of getting too close to anyone else's blade. He had believed Pellegrino when the man said he had no honor, and the same was probably true of his crew as well.

He tried a move of his own, lunging across towards Pellegrino's right side. It seemed clumsy, but he kept his own side protected in the process. Even as Pellegrino danced away, his eyes narrowed, and Jensen knew he hadn't fooled the man for a minute. 

The next time Pellegrino came at him, it was a full press, sword flashing in the moonlight as he met Jensen's parry before swiping in the other direction. Jensen matched him automatically, his body responding without having to think about it. It was like a dance, just the way he'd been taught, watching his partner's movements and responding in kind. The ground shifted and rolled beneath him, but he was able to keep his footing.

He even drew first blood, though it was almost by accident, raising his sword for another blow and catching the tip on Pellegrino's wrist. The pirate snarled and tossed his sword to his right hand, advancing on Jensen more strongly than before. With little room to retreat, Jensen had to hold his own, planting his feet on the deck and raising his sword against the blows raining down on him, parrying over and over until his arms shook with it.

They fought in a strange silence except for the clash of blades and the occasional grunt of effort. Jensen was glad for it; he felt that the potential to distract himself with unnecessary words was greater than the possibility of throwing off his opponent. For Pellegrino's part, he seemed to be devoting all of his efforts to fighting. Then again, he had his crew to taunt and jeer at Jensen. 

Every time Jensen thought he was growing weak, the red stain on the blade reminded him that he was fighting for so much more than himself. He didn't dare look at Jared, not wanting to be distracted. There was no regular rhythm to fall into; Pellegrino struck from different angles every time, sometimes moving forward with the roll of the ship, sometimes lunging against it. 

And then it happened. The ship lurched beneath them. Pellegrino had been in mid-lunge, and he started to overbalance, almost teetering on the deck. Jensen ducked sideways and gave him a hard shove, sending him sprawling to the ground. 

Pellegrino's sword went clattering to the side, but even as he was starting to roll to reach for it, Jensen stomped on his hand. He let the point of his sword hover a few inches above the other man's neck, and then he stopped, trying to catch his breath. 

Almost lazily, Pellegrino spread his arms out to his sides. He barely seemed to be breathing hard. "You gonna skewer me to the deck?" 

Jensen stared at him. "No, of course not."

"Hmm." A smirk curled the corner of Pellegrino's mouth. "Right, that's not how a duel works, is it?"

"Do you yield?" Jensen demanded.

The smirk deepened. "How will you get yourself and your pirate off my ship? If Huffman over there knows that you're not going to kill me, she's not going to be too interested in moving that knife any farther away from Padalecki's throat than it already is."

Jensen refused to look, knowing it was an attempt to distract him. "We had a deal," he retorted.

"Not in the written, legal sense," Pellegrino replied. "Besides, I did mention that the concept of 'honor' isn't one of my strong points, didn't I?"

There were murmurs all around him, and Jensen glanced out of the corner of his eye. The other pirates were smirking, some even drawing their daggers, and he realized with a sinking heart that he had lost after all. There was no way he could fight off more than one or two others, and with Jared still captive, he was helpless anyway.

Suddenly, there was a loud cry from behind him.

Jensen whirled around to see Huffman falling to the deck, her knife clattering after her. She had a hand clamped to her arm, where a red-fletched arrow was embedded just above her elbow.

Everyone was still for a moment. Jared was the first to move, dropping to a crouch and then rolling across the deck until he reached the point where Huffman's knife had fallen. Jensen raised his sword and backed up towards him, warily eyeing the nearest pirate but feeling a quick pang of relief that Jared was at least able to move freely.

There was a dull thud, and the gaze of everyone on the ship went to Pellegrino. Quivering in the wood of the deck between his sprawled legs was another arrow. It was catching the inside edge of his trouser leg, neatly pinning him to the deck.

Slowly, everyone looked up. There was someone perched in the rigging—no, two people, their silhouettes clearly visible against the moon, bow already drawn and another arrow nocked. "Who's next?" she called out, and Jensen grinned at the sound of Riesgraf's voice.

The pirates started to murmur amongst themselves while Pellegrino demanded to know who'd been on watch and let her sneak onto his ship. Even as their voices grew louder, Jensen heard another sound: the splashing of oars.

He called out, "You'd best drop your weapons. All of you." He turned in a slow circle, sword held in front of him, edging closer to Jared and giving Huffman a warning glance where she lay sprawled on the deck.

"I'm willing to bet she doesn't have enough arrows up there for all of us," Pellegrino retorted, rising up onto one elbow.

Another _thwack_ sounded, and Pellegrino grunted as an arrow struck him in the shoulder, pinning him more fully to the deck. "There's enough for you," Hodge shouted.

Jensen's mouth twitched. He had to keep everyone's attention for just another moment, and so he took a deep breath and called out, "You might be right, Captain. But the thing about not having any honor is probably true of your crew as well. Sure, if they storm the rigging, eventually one of them might get to the top, once she runs out of arrows. But an awful lot of them are going to die in the meantime. For you, and nothing more. And I doubt most of them are eager to do that."

The murmurs around him were starting to grow again, further blocking the muffled splashes Jensen could just hear in the distance. He glanced down at Jared and was alarmed to see that he'd stopped moving, half sitting up with his head hanging down. The upper sleeve of Jared's shirt was a bright crimson, and Jensen swore under his breath.

"Ship ahoy!" came a call from the bow, and Jensen swore again. He'd been hoping they weren't going to notice just yet—

"Ship ahoy!" sounded from the port side as well, and then everyone was looking over the sides of the ship.

"Drop your weapons!" Jensen shouted again. "Or the Governor's Guard will have you hanged along with your captain for kidnapping a member of the nobility."

"You came here of your own free will," Pellegrino retorted.

"I'm not talking about myself," Jensen replied with a sharp grin.

"What?" Pellegrino demanded.

Before Jensen could reply, there was a thud, and the ship swayed to the side. "Prepare for boarding by the Governor's Guard," a voice called, and Jensen briefly closed his eyes in relief.

He didn't relax, however, until there were at least a dozen members of the guard on board and the ship shifted beneath him again as another vessel prepared to board from the other side. Only then did he lower his sword and rush to Jared's side.

Jared had managed to sit up, and though he'd picked up Huffman's knife, he hadn't been able to do much with it. The blood on his sleeve looked dry, thank God. Jensen knelt at his side and made quick work of the ropes around his wrists. 

Jared started to bring his arms forward and then stopped with a grunt, clamping his left hand over his right shoulder.

"Let me see," Jensen said, tugging at Jared's hand.

Jared pulled away, his protest muffled by the gag still in his mouth. He rolled his eyes and jerked his chin towards Jensen.

Carefully, Jensen pulled the dirty cloth out of Jared's mouth. He briefly caressed Jared's cheek as he tugged the cloth away, but with so many other people around them, that was all he dared do for the moment. Jared didn't meet his eyes, staring down at the deck as he continued to hold his hand to his shoulder.

"How is he?"

Jensen looked up to see his father standing over them, sword tucked away in his belt and concern on his face as he looked at Jared. "I don't know yet."

"I'm fine." Jared tried to struggle to his feet, but when he swayed and leaned hard into Jensen, it wasn't because of the motion of the ship. "I will be."

"Did you bring a doctor?" Jensen asked his father.

Alan shook his head. "Bring him up to the house. I'll tell some of my men to escort you. Dr. Williams can have a look at him."

"It's just a scratch," Jared insisted, a bit faintly.

"How clean do you think that blade of hers was?" Jensen retorted. "Come _on_ , Jared. Can you walk?"

"Course." He shrugged off Jensen's help and started to stagger in the direction of the gunwale. Aldis saw him coming and ducked under one arm, lending Jared his shoulder as they continued to make their way off the ship.

With a low curse, Jensen followed them. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see a surprisingly fond smile on his father's face. Shaking his head angrily, he tried to catch up to Jared.

He hadn't rescued his pirate captain just to lose track of him now.


End file.
